


Nowhere to Run

by wabbitseason



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Costumes, Fear, Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-31
Updated: 2008-10-31
Packaged: 2017-10-18 09:39:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/187524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wabbitseason/pseuds/wabbitseason
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Upwards meant safety.  Upwards meant the rooftops where she was free to prowl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nowhere to Run

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://vespertila.livejournal.com/profile)[**vespertila**](http://vespertila.livejournal.com/) [DC Halloween Chained](http://vespertila.livejournal.com/114795.html). The prompt is costumes.

Selina was going to kill that idiot Crane. The last thing she wanted was to be under the influence of Scarecrow's gas. She hoped he rotted in Arkham for this scheme. She'd been a complete fool to trust him. He'd played her. This wasn’t part of her plan. But she was part of his. She was his target all along.

Her eyes still stung from the gas. Her vision started to water and blur. The hallucinations would be coming on hard and fast soon. If she could just ride it out, she could survive this. Once she had broken its' grip, she was going to wring his scrawny neck.

Selina could hear sirens in the distance. The police must have caught onto her trail. She couldn't stick around here. She had to make a run for it.

Her captors had allowed for just the slightest amount of slack. She just needed the right leverage. She didn’t know where she found the strength, but she finally broke free. She headed out into the Gotham night. The alley seemed narrower than before, like the brick walls were closing in around her.

"There she is!"

"Don’t let her get away!"

Selina did what she always did. She made her escape. She always disappeared before the police arrived. Sometimes she stayed long enough to tease the Batman, but she didn’t have time to chat tonight. She continued down the long brick alley. There was the fire escape. She could make it to the roof from there. Even Batman couldn’t catch her on her home turf. Someday she’d let him catch her, but not today.

Up the fire escape, Selina felt fabric catch on the exposed railing. She tugged, wondering why her costume felt heavier. Then she noticed the dark green fabric in her hands. Why was she wearing a cloak? She caught a glimpse of herself in the windowpane in a long green dress. Her face was covered with a cat mask. She’d worn such a dress once before at a Halloween costume party, one of her first encounters with the Dark Knight. She’d nearly gotten the best of him that night.

Selina yanked the loose fabric free and continued up the fire escape. It would take more than a costume change to shake her determination. Upwards meant safety. Upwards meant the rooftops where she was free to prowl. She could move at will there, once she’d ditched the cumbersome dress and the mask. She could barely see out of the damned thing. She remembered why she’d only used it a few times. Selina had to keep moving. If she stayed calm and quiet, maybe they wouldn’t notice she wasn’t as fast as her usual nimble self.

Going up the ladder, Selina heard the clanging of her boot heels. Damn. Why did she have to wear such impractical footwear? Her costume had changed again. She could see the green cloak swishing behind her. So she was back to the purple dress. She’d had some good times in that outfit, terrorizing both Batman and Robin in the process. It was almost like she was a different woman back then.

But she couldn’t let her past define her. She wasn’t that woman anymore. She had to keep going.

So Selina kept climbing. It would take more than Gotham’s Finest to slow her down. She could see other costumes flash by, some more outrageous and catlike than the next. She could almost see the rooftops from her position. The sirens were getting closer and closer. The old outfits yielded to more form fitting and curvaceous versions. Those had certainly proved useful in distracting the opposite sex. The costumes also allowed her to move more freely.

She just had to hold out for a little longer. She wasn’t going to let those cops win. Not the cops, her mind reminded her. Crane was the one playing with her mind. But her body wasn’t listening, just reacting to the stimuli. She was Pavlov’s dumb dog, except she ran from bells and sirens. She didn’t like being cornered. But she was even more scared of going back. She’d never do that.

"Catwoman, we have you surrounded! There’s no place to hide!"

Oh, really? Like Selina hadn’t heard that line before. The police had cornered before and she escaped. She’d even escaped out from under Batman’s nose. She’d find a way, even if she literally had to claw her way out.

Selina froze in place. She could feel the police spotlight crawling along the fire escape. She flattened against the wall, hoping she wouldn’t be spotted. Bright purple didn’t tend to blend too well with Gotham brickwork. But she couldn’t let them catch her.

When the spotlight moved away from her position, she swung up to the final landing of the fire escape. She only had a few more steps before she reached the roof and then to safety. From the roof, she could move from building to building.

Feeling her face, Selina found the familiar goggles around her eyes. Her utilitarian leather suit was reassuring. She had beaten Crane at his mind games. She was herself again.

The next rooftop looked close enough. She should be able to make it, if she took it at a good run. With a deep breath, Selina Kyle leaped to safety.

Crane’s laughter crackled all the way to the hard floor.  



End file.
